While Doug Johns has a Jewish mother and is profiled in The Big Book of Jewish Baseball, he follows his father's Catholic traditions. Doug was undrafted out of high school. Not known as an overpowering pitcher, he relied on control and a multitude of pitches and pitch styles reminiscent of Murry Dickson.

In 1993, the 25-year-old returned to Huntsville and posted a 7-5, 2.97 record, primarily being used out of the bullpen (34 relief appearances, six starts). '94 was a great year for Johns - after a 3-0, 1.20 start with Huntsville, he moved up to the Tacoma Tigers, where he went 9-8 and led the Pacific Coast League both in ERA (2.89) and lowest opponent average (.234).

After a 5-5 start for the 1995Edmonton Trappers, Johns made his big-league debut for the 1995 Athletics and was ejected from the July 8 game after throwing behind John Olerud when teammate Mark McGwire had been plunked earlier in the contest. Johns finished at 9-5, 3.41 for Edmonton and 5-3, 4.61 for Oakland. For the second straight year, he was one of the PCL's top hurlers, finishing behind Donne Wall and Shad Williams in the ERA race.

In '96, Doug missed some of spring training with a rib injury. It was the only year he spent exclusively in the major leagues, going 6-12 with a 5.98 ERA (80 ERA+) for the A's. He was placed on waivers the next year and was claimed by the Kansas City Royals. He only went 1-5 with a 7.56 ERA for the Omaha Royals and was released on May 29. Just over a month later, the Baltimore Orioles signed him and he was 3-1 with a 3.74 ERA the rest of the year with the Rochester Red Wings.

In 1998, Johns was 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA in two starts for Rochester while going 3-3, 4.57 in 31 outings for the 1998 Orioles. With a 99 ERA+, he was almost exactly league-average. He went 1-1, 4.85 for '99 Rochester and 6-4, 4.47 for the Orioles, for a career-best 108 ERA+ in his final season. Overall, he was 20-22, 5.13 in the majors (91 ERA+) and 61-46 in the minors.